Knowing His Glory, Encountering His Presence, and Becoming a People Who Reflect Him

When we hear the phrase “the glory of God,” we can immediately think of powerful worship services, the presence of God filling a room, people falling under His presence, supernatural manifestations, or the cloud and fire we read about throughout Scripture. All of those things can be connected to the subject of glory, but none of them by themselves define it. If we are going to understand the glory of God, we have to begin much deeper. We have to begin with God Himself.

From before creation until the new heavens and new earth, Scripture tells one continuous story of the glorious God revealing Himself, dwelling among His people, transforming those who behold Him, and ultimately bringing redeemed humanity into the unveiled reality of His presence. When we understand that larger picture, manifestations of glory have their proper place. We can welcome the presence and activity of the Holy Spirit without making manifestations the center, because the center has always been God Himself.

I. WHAT IS THE GLORY OF GOD?

One of the main Hebrew words translated “glory” in the Old Testament is kabod. The word is the idea of weight, heaviness, honor, dignity, and importance. When this definition is applied to God, we are talking about the weightiness of who He is, the weightiness of God’s dignity, of His majesty, of His holiness. God is not common, ordinary, trivial, or insignificant. There is infinite weight to His holiness, His righteousness, His authority, His goodness, His wisdom, His power, His beauty, and His majesty.

This glory did not begin when God created something capable of seeing it. Before there were human beings to worship Him, angels to cry “Holy,” stars to declare His handiwork, or a universe to display His power, God was already glorious. Jesus prayed:

“And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.” John 17:5, NKJV

This is what we can call God’s intrinsic glory. Glory belongs to God because of who God eternally is. Creation does not give God glory in the sense of adding something He lacks. Neither does our worship make Him more glorious. When Scripture commands us to “give unto the LORD the glory due to His name,” we are recognizing, declaring, honoring, and responding to glory that already belongs to Him.

“Give unto the LORD the glory due to His name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.” Psalm 29:2, NKJV

God possesses glory intrinsically. Creation displays His glory. His works reveal His glory. His people recognize His glory. Worship ascribes glory to Him. But nothing created makes God glorious. This is also why God’s glory cannot only be defined as a cloud, fire, a feeling, or something supernatural happening in a room. Those things may reveal or accompany His glory, but they are not the source of it. The source is God Himself. We can see this clearly when Moses makes one of the greatest requests recorded in Scripture:

“And he said, ‘Please, show me Your glory.’” Exodus 33:18, NKJV

God responds:

“Then He said, ‘I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before you.’” Exodus 33:19, NKJV

Moses asks for glory, and God begins talking about His goodness and His name. Then in Exodus 34, God reveals Himself as merciful, gracious, longsuffering, abounding in goodness and truth, forgiving iniquity while remaining righteous and just. Moses wanted to see God’s glory, and God revealed who He is. That shows us the foundation for everything else we are going to discuss. Before glory is something we experience, glory belongs to who God is.

II. THE DIFFERENT EXPRESSIONS OF GOD’S GLORY

Because Scripture speaks about glory in several different contexts, it is helpful to understand each one. There is the intrinsic glory of God, meaning who He eternally is in Himself. There is the revealed glory of God, when He makes His greatness known through creation, His works, His Word, and ultimately Jesus Christ. There is the manifest glory of God, when the reality of His presence becomes perceptible or experientially apparent. There is the reflected glory of God, when His people are transformed and begin displaying His character. And there is future glory, when Christ returns in glory, His people are glorified, and God’s glory fills the new creation. And remember, these are not separate glories. They are just different expressions and revelations of the same glory from the same God.

Another distinction is necessary when discussing God’s presence. Scripture gives us the reality of God’s omnipresence, the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, versus particular manifestations of God’s presence. God’s omnipresence means that God is not geographically confined.

“Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?” Psalm 139:7, NKJV

There is nowhere in creation where God ceases to be God or where His knowledge and presence do not extend. But believers also experience something more specific through the New Covenant: the indwelling Holy Spirit.

“Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God…?” 1 Corinthians 6:19, NKJV

Then Scripture gives us moments when the God who is already present makes His presence known in an unusual, perceptible way. That is what we mean when speaking about manifest presence. This also means God does not become more glorious when He manifests His glory. God cannot increase in glory as if He were deficient beforehand. What changes is the degree of revelation given to us. Moses learned this when God told him:

“You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.” Exodus 33:20, NKJV

The limitation was not in God’s glory. The limitation was in Moses’ capacity to behold unveiled glory. Throughout Scripture, God graciously reveals Himself in ways human beings can encounter without receiving the fullness of what they could not bear.

III. THE MANIFEST GLORY OF GOD

Once we understand those distinctions, we can understand what Scripture means when God’s glory becomes manifest. There are moments throughout the Bible when God’s otherwise invisible presence becomes unmistakably apparent. At Mount Sinai there was thunder, lightning, fire, smoke, trembling, darkness, and the sound of a trumpet. When the tabernacle was completed, something happened beyond the ordinary presence of God with His people.

“Then the cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the tabernacle of meeting, because the cloud rested above it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.” Exodus 40:34–35, NKJV

When Solomon dedicated the temple, the priests experienced something similar.

“And it came to pass, when the priests came out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the LORD, so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud; for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD.” 1 Kings 8:10–11, NKJV

God had not been absent five minutes earlier. Something changed in how His presence was being manifested. But manifest glory is broader than an atmosphere, cloud, smoke, fire, or physical sensation. Scripture also speaks about God’s glory being manifested through His works. At Cana, Jesus turned water into wine, and John tells us:

“This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.” John 2:11, NKJV

The sign manifested glory because the sign revealed something about Jesus. The miracle was not the final destination. It pointed to the One performing it. We see the same thing before Lazarus is raised from the dead.

“Jesus said to her, ‘Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?’” John 11:40, NKJV

Then a dead man walks out of a tomb. God’s glory was being revealed through resurrection power. This expands our understanding of manifestation. God’s glory may be revealed through His presence becoming overwhelmingly perceptible, but His glory can also be manifested through what He does.

a. THE INDWELLING SPIRIT AND THE MANIFESTATION OF HIS PRESENCE AND POWER

There is another distinction we need to make here, especially when we’re talking about the glory of God in the life of a New Covenant believer. We have already established that the Holy Spirit dwells within believers. So when we talk about the Holy Spirit filling someone, coming upon someone in power, or manifesting through someone, we are not saying that the Holy Spirit was absent and suddenly arrived. We also aren’t saying that we receive a different Holy Spirit every time He moves. The New Testament gives us language for both the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit and the ongoing filling, empowerment, and manifestation of the Holy Spirit. Understanding that distinction helps us talk about God’s presence and glory without confusing His abiding presence with particular moments when His activity becomes especially evident.

b. THE SPIRIT DWELLS WITHIN THE BELIEVER

Paul says,

“But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.” 

He makes it clear that the Spirit of God dwells in those who belong to Christ. We see the same truth in 1 Corinthians 6:19, where Paul asks, “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God…?” So there is an abiding, indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit in the believer. We aren’t waiting every Sunday for the Holy Spirit to move back into us. He has made us His dwelling place.

But the New Testament doesn’t stop with indwelling. The same believers who possess the Holy Spirit can experience moments where the Spirit fills, empowers, and manifests His activity in particular ways. That distinction is important because sometimes we use the word presence to describe all of these things, when Scripture actually gives us several ways of describing the Spirit’s relationship with and activity through His people. The Spirit can dwell within us, while also filling, empowering, and manifesting His activity through us.

c. THE SPIRIT FILLS AND EMPOWERS

At Pentecost, Scripture says,

“And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” 

Something was happening through these people that did not originate merely with them. They were speaking, but the Spirit was giving the utterance. The invisible Spirit was making His activity evident through human beings who had yielded themselves to Him.

But now go forward to Acts 4:31, because this helps us understand that the filling of the Spirit wasn’t presented as something that could only happen once. Scripture says,

“And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.” 

These are believers in the early church, and some of these same people had already experienced what happened at Pentecost. Yet Scripture describes them as being filled with the Holy Spirit again. This doesn’t mean the Holy Spirit had left them between Acts 2 and Acts 4 and now needed to come back. It shows us that there can be fresh fillings and fresh empowerments of the Spirit in the lives of people in whom He already dwells. In Acts 4, that filling was connected with boldness to proclaim the Word of God. The Spirit who already dwelt among and within His people was actively empowering them for what God had called them to do.

We see similar language in Ephesians 5:18, where Paul tells believers,

“And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit.” 

Paul is speaking to Christians. So there is a difference between saying, “The Holy Spirit dwells within me,” and saying, “The Holy Spirit is presently filling, empowering, or manifesting His activity through me.” Those truths aren’t contradictory. They describe different aspects of our relationship with the same Holy Spirit.

d. POWER TO DO WHAT GOD HAS CALLED US TO DO

In Acts 1:8, Jesus tells His disciples,

“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” 

Here we see empowerment. The word translated power is dynamis, it is the idea of power, ability, or might. Jesus was telling His disciples that the Holy Spirit would empower them to accomplish what they could not accomplish merely through human strength.

When we continue reading Acts, we see this repeatedly. The Spirit fills people. The Spirit gives boldness. The Spirit gives utterance. The Spirit leads. The Spirit speaks. The Spirit empowers God’s people for ministry. The Spirit works through ordinary human beings in ways that reveal that the source of what is happening is greater than the person being used.

So when we say that we want the Holy Spirit to move through us, we aren’t necessarily asking Him to become present as though He were previously absent. We are yielding ourselves to the Spirit who already dwells within us and asking Him to accomplish through us whatever He desires. We are saying, “Holy Spirit, I’m available. Empower me. Lead me. Speak through me. Use me however You choose.” We are not trying to become the source of His power. We are making ourselves available to the One who is.

e. THE MANIFESTATION OF THE SPIRIT

1 Corinthians 12:4–11, Paul writes,

“There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all.” 

Paul then lists the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge, faith, gifts of healings, working of miracles, prophecy, discerning of spirits, different kinds of tongues, and interpretation of tongues. He finishes by saying, “But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.”

Notice the language Paul uses: “the manifestation of the Spirit.” The Holy Spirit is invisible, but His activity can become evident. Something that cannot be seen directly can be recognized by what He is doing. The gifts Paul describes are different ways the activity of the Spirit may become evident through God’s people. The manifestations differ, the people being used differ, and the way His activity appears may differ, but Paul repeatedly brings us back to the fact that there is one Spirit behind them.

And verse 11 gives us an important safeguard: “distributing to each one individually as He wills.” The Spirit distributes as He wills. We don’t own the gifts. We don’t control the Holy Spirit. We don’t manufacture manifestations. We don’t decide that because God moved one particular way before, He is required to move that way again. The manifestation remains under the sovereignty of the Holy Spirit. We yield ourselves to Him, and He works through His people according to His will.

This gives us another dimension of what we’ve been talking about when we talk about manifest presence and manifest glory. The Holy Spirit can manifest His presence among us, but He can also manifest His activity through us. The Spirit who dwells within believers can make His activity evident through gifts, power, utterance, boldness, wisdom, healing, prophecy, tongues, discernment, and the other workings He distributes.

That doesn’t mean every manifestation will look dramatic. Sometimes the Spirit may give someone supernatural boldness to speak. Sometimes He may give a word of wisdom that goes beyond that person’s natural understanding. Sometimes He may manifest His activity through prophecy, healing, tongues, interpretation, discernment, or another gift. The outward expressions may be different, but the Source is the same Spirit.

f. HOW THIS CONNECTS TO THE GLORY OF GOD

This is where all of this connects directly back to our teaching on glory. A manifestation of the Spirit should never cause us to become more impressed with the person through whom God is working than with the God who is doing the work. The vessel isn’t the source. The gift isn’t the source. The manifestation isn’t the source. God is the Source.

Think back to John 2:11, where Scripture says, “This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.” Something Jesus did revealed something about who Jesus is. The miracle wasn’t supposed to become the final destination of their attention. The sign pointed beyond itself to Christ, and the result was that His disciples believed in Him. The supernatural work became a revelation of the One performing the work.

We see something similar in John 11:40, when Jesus tells Martha,

“Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” 

Jesus then stands outside the tomb and calls Lazarus back to life. Resurrection power becomes a revelation of the glory of God. Once again, something God did revealed something about who God is.

So when the Holy Spirit genuinely manifests His activity through His people, what He does can reveal something about God. Healing can reveal His compassion and power. A word of wisdom can reveal His wisdom. Prophecy can reveal that God speaks and knows. Discernment can reveal His truth. Deliverance can reveal the authority of Jesus over the powers of darkness. The manifestations are different, but through the activity of the Spirit, something about God can be made known. And when something true about God is being made known, His glory is being revealed.

g. WE YIELD; THE HOLY SPIRIT REMAINS THE SOURCE

This is why I would be careful about thinking of this as though we are simply “releasing the Holy Spirit.” I understand what people usually mean by that language, but the Holy Spirit isn’t a power or substance that we possess and release whenever we choose. He is God. We don’t control Him. We don’t decide how He must manifest. First Corinthians 12 has already told us that He distributes as He wills.

What we can do is yield. We can obey. We can pray. We can step out in faith when He leads. We can make ourselves available to Him. We can desire spiritual gifts, as Scripture tells us to do, while still recognizing that the power and manifestation belong to the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit who already dwells within God’s people can fill, empower, and manifest His activity through God’s people according to His will. And when His activity reveals God’s power, character, goodness, wisdom, authority, compassion, or works, that manifestation can become another way through which God’s glory is revealed.

There is a progression here that I want us to understand. The Spirit dwells within us. The Spirit fills and empowers us. The Spirit manifests His activity through us. Through what He does, God is revealed. And when God is revealed for who He is, God receives the glory.

We are vessels. He is the Source.

IV. THE WEIGHT OF HIS GLORY

If glory carries the idea of weightiness, Scripture repeatedly shows what happens when human weakness encounters a revelation of the majesty of God. The responses are not identical. Moses trembled. Isaiah became undone. Ezekiel fell on his face. Daniel lost his strength. John fell at the feet of the glorified Christ as though dead. Others responded with worship, joy, silence, fear, or awe.

When the reality of who God is becomes intensely apparent, human beings can become overwhelmed. Some people cry when they encounter God, some pass out, some leap for joy, some become silent, and some tremble with fear. You cannot find anyone in Scripture who genuinely encountered the living God and was bored.

The response, however, must never be confused with the glory itself. Falling is not God’s glory. Trembling is not God’s glory. Crying is not God’s glory. Being silent is not God’s glory. Experiencing overwhelming joy is not God’s glory. These may be responses produced in human beings encountering the weight of His presence, but God is the glorious One.

That also means we should never develop a formula for how someone must respond. One person may weep while another becomes silent. One may tremble while another experiences tremendous joy. One may physically fall while another remains standing in awe. We should not judge the depth of someone’s encounter by the outward response.

What we do see Scripture reveal repeatedly is something deeper: the greater the revelation of God, the smaller human beings tend to become in their own eyes. Isaiah did not see God’s glory and become impressed with himself. He cried, “Woe is me.” John did not see the glorified Christ and begin talking about how spiritually important he was. He fell at His feet. True glory magnifies God and humbles man.

V. DON’T CONFUSE THE MANIFESTATION WITH THE SOURCE

Because God’s glory can produce visible effects, supernatural signs, physical responses, and unusual experiences, we must learn to distinguish the manifestation from the One being manifested. At Sinai, there was fire, but Israel was not being introduced to fire. There was smoke, but smoke was not the object of worship. The mountain shook, but the shaking was not the point. God was making Himself known. The same principle applies to miracles. At Cana, the sign manifested Christ’s glory and resulted in His disciples believing in Him. The biblical movement was:

The sign pointed beyond itself. This gives us a healthy way to approach manifestations today. If someone falls under the weight of God’s presence, we do not start pursuing falling. If someone trembles, we do not pursue trembling. If God heals, our attention belongs on the Healer. If God delivers someone, our attention belongs on the Deliverer. And if something unusual occurs that we do not immediately understand, we do not have to choose between blindly accepting it and immediately rejecting it. Scripture tells us:

“Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good.” 1 Thessalonians 5:19–21, NKJV

Those commands belong together. Do not quench, and test.

This applies to our own personal encounters with God as well. When we experience a manifestation of God’s glory, we don’t “camp out” on that experience or begin constructing doctrine around what happened to us. Our experience may be real and meaningful, but it does not become the standard for how God must move again. That’s an important safeguard.

We can remain completely open to God doing something unexpected while refusing to make the unusual thing the center of our pursuit. We pursue God, not the experience. And we shouldn’t expect Him to manifest His presence the exact same way every time; not even in our own lives. God is not obligated to repeat yesterday’s manifestation in order to prove that He is moving today.

Bottom Line: We do not chase manifestations. We can treasure what God has done without turning it into a formula for what God must do next. We pursue the God who is free to manifest Himself however He chooses, always testing what happens by His Word.

VI. GLORY, HOLINESS, GOODNESS, AND THE FEAR OF THE LORD

Isaiah 6 gives us one of Scripture’s clearest pictures of what happens when someone encounters the holiness of God’s glory.

“And one cried to another and said: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!’” Isaiah 6:3, NKJV

Isaiah’s response is immediate.

“So I said: ‘Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips…’” Isaiah 6:5, NKJV

Glory exposed him. Isaiah saw something about God, and seeing God caused Isaiah to see himself differently. This is why glory and holiness cannot be separated. The presence of God should never make us increasingly comfortable with what is contrary to God. His light exposes darkness. His purity exposes impurity. His truth exposes deception. His holiness reveals what is unlike Him.

Ezekiel gives us the sobering other side of this truth. Earlier in Israel’s history, glory filled God’s dwelling place. But in Ezekiel 10 and 11, the prophet watches the glory of the LORD depart from the temple in the context of persistent rebellion, corruption, and idolatry. The people could possess a temple associated with God’s name while living contrary to the God of the temple.

The principle of this story is that God’s glory cannot be separated from God’s holiness. We cannot sincerely cry, “Show us Your glory,” while simultaneously saying, “But do not confront anything in us.” Yet, glory is not only frightening holiness. Remember God’s response when Moses asked to see His glory:

“I will make all My goodness pass before you…” Exodus 33:19, NKJV

His goodness is glorious. His mercy is glorious. His compassion is glorious. His patience is glorious. His faithfulness is glorious. His justice is glorious. The God who makes Isaiah tremble is also the God whose goodness overwhelms Moses. The fear of the Lord is not a contradiction of intimacy with God. We can draw near because of Christ while still recognizing the majesty of the One to whom we are drawing near.

VII. GLORY IS NOT ALWAYS LOUD (HYPE)

Once we understand manifest glory, we also need to understand that dramatic activity is not the measurement of God’s presence. We can become conditioned to believe God is moving only when people are falling, crying, shouting, trembling, laughing, being healed, or experiencing something visibly supernatural. But, Scripture does not give us permission to make that our standard.

There can be tremendous outward manifestations of God’s presence, and there can also be profound encounters with God that appear quiet from the outside. Human responses differ, and God’s purposes differ. We should never pressure people to produce a response in order to prove that God is moving. Neither should our faith depend upon manifestations. We do not need something visible to prove God is faithful. Scripture tells us that “we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7, NKJV).

This gives us the balance we need. We can hunger for God’s presence without demanding that He perform for us. We can welcome manifestations without manufacturing them. We can rejoice when God moves powerfully while remaining just as convinced of His presence when we feel nothing at all. We never have to manufacture what only God can manifest.

VIII. JESUS IS THE CLEAREST REVELATION OF GOD’S GLORY

Everything we say about glory ultimately has to come back to Jesus. John writes:

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14, NKJV

Hebrews describes Jesus as:

“…the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person…” Hebrews 1:3, NKJV

If we want to know what God’s glory looks like when expressed in human life, we look at Jesus. In Him we see holiness without hypocrisy, authority without pride, truth without compromise, compassion without approving sin, supernatural power without self-exaltation, mercy toward sinners, obedience to the Father, deliverance for the oppressed, healing for the sick, and sacrificial love.

But the cross takes our understanding of glory even deeper. When Jesus was approaching His death, He said:

“The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified.” John 12:23, NKJV

That almost sounds backward according to the world’s definition of glory. We expect glory to look like thrones, brightness, angels, power, fire, and victory. Jesus points toward a cross. At Calvary, the holiness, righteousness, justice, mercy, love, obedience, and redemptive purpose of God converge. The Son lays Himself down in obedience to the Father for the redemption of humanity.

Glory also looks like the Son of God laying down His life. If our pursuit of glory causes us to become more fascinated with supernatural phenomena than with Christ, we have lost the center.

IX. FROM BEHOLDING GLORY TO REFLECTING GLORY

The glory of God is not something believers are merely supposed to study from a distance. Scripture says that beholding His glory changes us. Paul writes:

“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” 2 Corinthians 3:18, NKJV

Paul’s language here reaches back to Moses. Moses encountered God, came down from the mountain, and his face shone because he had been in God’s presence. Under the New Covenant, Paul takes that imagery and speaks about a deeper transformation occurring in God’s people. The word translated “transformed” is the idea of a genuine change. We are not just observing glory. The Spirit is changing the beholder.

Someone who continually beholds God’s holiness should increasingly desire holiness. Someone who encounters His mercy should become merciful. Someone who knows His truth should become truthful. Someone who beholds the humility of Christ should become humble. Someone who encounters His love should increasingly love. This also helps broaden our understanding of what reflecting glory looks like. Peter writes to suffering Christians:

“If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.” 1 Peter 4:14, NKJV

Notice where the “Spirit of glory” is resting. These believers are suffering faithfully for Jesus.

Sometimes glory looks spectacular, and sometimes glory looks like someone being persecuted, mistreated, or rejected and still responding like Jesus. The evidence that we have encountered glory cannot just be that we have a story about what happened to us. The evidence should eventually become visible in who we are becoming.

X. BECOMING A PEOPLE WHO HOUSE HIS GLORY

One of the greatest themes running through Scripture is God’s desire to dwell with His people. Once we see it, we can trace it throughout the entire biblical story. In Eden, God walked in relationship with humanity. At Sinai, He manifested His presence among Israel. Then He told Moses:

“And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.” Exodus 25:8, NKJV

Israel built the tabernacle, and glory filled it. Then something extraordinary happened.

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory…” John 1:14, NKJV

The language of Christ “dwelling” among us is showing us tabernacle imagery. God came to dwell among humanity in Jesus Christ. After the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus and the giving of the Holy Spirit, Scripture begins speaking about God’s people as His temple.

“Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” 1 Corinthians 3:16, NKJV

Paul then describes believers corporately:

“…in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.” Ephesians 2:22, NKJV

And where does the biblical story end?

“And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them…’” Revelation 21:3, NKJV

Running through the entire story is the desire of God to dwell with His people. We often ask, “How can we get God to move in our service?” But, Scripture gives us something bigger: God is building a people as His dwelling place.

There is a difference between desiring a visitation and becoming conscious that we are His habitation. We should certainly desire moments when God’s presence becomes powerfully manifest. But God is after more than giving us occasional powerful meetings. He is forming a people in whom He dwells by His Spirit.

What kind of house are we giving Him?

If we are His temple, then holiness matters. Obedience matters. Humility matters. Unity matters. Love matters. Truth matters. Repentance matters. What happens outside the church building matters. We do not practice these things to earn the Holy Spirit. We belong to Christ by grace. But because He has made us His dwelling place, His presence should increasingly affect the house in which He dwells.

XI. WE WANT ALL OF HIM

Moses gives us one of the clearest pictures of healthy spiritual hunger in Exodus 33. Before he ever says, “Show me Your glory,” listen to what he asks:

“…show me now Your way, that I may know You…” Exodus 33:13, NKJV

Then God tells him:

“My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” Exodus 33:14, NKJV

Moses responds:

“If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here.” Exodus 33:15, NKJV

Then eventually:

“Please, show me Your glory.” Exodus 33:18, NKJV

Moses’ hunger for glory grew out of hunger for God Himself. That is the kind of hunger we want. We do not have to choose between holiness and power, Word and Spirit, reverence and joy, character and manifestation, intimacy and fear of the Lord. We want the God who convicts and the God who comforts. The God who heals and the God who corrects. The God who delivers and the God who sanctifies. The God whose presence can make someone tremble and the God whose presence produces fullness of joy.

We do not only want what God can make us feel. We do not only want what God can give us. We do not only want what God can manifest before us. We want Him.

XII. THE GOAL OF GLORY IS THAT GOD GETS THE GLORY

The story of God’s glory does not end with what we experience in this present age. Right now, we know God truly, we have His Spirit dwelling within us, we are being transformed into the image of Christ, and there are times when God chooses to make His presence powerfully manifest among His people. Yet Scripture makes it clear that what we experience now is not the fullness of the glory that is coming. There is still a day ahead when Jesus Christ will return and His glory will no longer be hidden from the world.

Jesus said,

“Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” Matthew 24:30, NKJV. 

The One whose glory is presently known by faith will one day be openly revealed. Jesus will not return quietly or secretly hidden from the world. He will come with power and great glory, and creation will see the King for who He truly is. That future glory will not only involve the revelation of Christ. God’s people will also experience the completion of the transformation He has already begun in us.

Paul says that Jesus

“will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body.” Philippians 3:21, NKJV. 

Right now, we are being transformed inwardly as we behold the glory of the Lord, but a day is coming when even these mortal bodies will be changed. What God began in redemption will be brought to completion.

Revelation then takes us even further and shows us where the entire biblical story has been heading.

John writes,

“The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light.” Revelation 21:23, NKJV. 

Throughout Scripture, God’s glory appears in particular places and at particular moments. His glory fills the tabernacle. His glory fills the temple. His glory is revealed in Jesus Christ. His Spirit comes to dwell within His people. But Revelation shows us a future in which the glory of God is no longer something we experience only in moments or manifestations. His presence defines the entire reality of the new creation.

John hears a loud voice from heaven saying,

“Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.” Revelation 21:3, NKJV. 

This is where the theme we have followed throughout Scripture finally reaches its fullness. The God who desired to dwell with humanity in the beginning will dwell with redeemed humanity forever. There will no longer be a veil separating us from the fullness of His presence. There will be no earthly temple that contains a manifestation of His glory, because God Himself and the Lamb will be there.

When we understand where all of this is going, it changes what we mean when we pray, “Lord, show us Your glory.” We are not only asking God to give us an emotional experience or to cause something supernatural to happen in a meeting. We are asking to know the God whose glory existed before the foundation of the world. We are asking Him to reveal more of who He is. We are asking His holiness to expose what needs to change in us, His goodness to draw us closer, His presence to become precious to us, and His Spirit to continue transforming us into the image of Jesus.

And yes, we can welcome God to manifest His presence however He desires. We can hunger for His power, welcome His gifts, believe for healing and deliverance, and remain open to the supernatural activity of the Holy Spirit. But none of those things can become the destination. Every manifestation should direct our attention back to the One being manifested. Every healing should exalt the Healer. Every deliverance should exalt the Deliverer. Every encounter should cause us to desire the One we encountered. Every revelation of glory should leave us with a greater awareness of how worthy He is.

This is ultimately why God must remain at the center of every conversation about glory. The goal is not that people start talking about how powerful we are, how anointed a ministry is, what happened to someone during worship, or what unusual manifestations occurred in the room. If people encounter the glory of God, our attention should ultimately be drawn toward God.

His glory was never ours to possess as though it originated with us. We are vessels. We are His temple. We are people being transformed into the image of His Son. Whatever He chooses to reveal through us belongs to Him, and whatever He chooses to accomplish through us should return praise to Him.

The glory begins with God, reveals God, draws us toward God, transforms us into the image of Christ, and ultimately returns all honor back to God. And one day, what we presently know in part will give way to something far greater. We will see the King in His glory, redeemed humanity will dwell in His presence, and creation itself will be illuminated by the glory of God.

That is where the entire story is going. The goal has never been merely to experience His glory.

The goal is God Himself.